1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording tape cartridge accommodating, within a case, a single reel on which is wound a recording tape, such as a magnetic tape or the like, which is used as a recording/playback medium mainly for computers or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, magnetic tape cartridges have been known in which a magnetic tape, which is used as a data recording/playback medium of a computer or the like, is wound on a single reel, and the reel is accommodated in a case. A leader member, such as a leader pin, a leader tape, or a leader block, is provided at the distal end of the magnetic tape. A pull-out mechanism provided at a drive device pulls the leader member out from an opening of the magnetic tape cartridge, and winds the magnetic tape, which is fixed to the leader member, onto a take-up reel of the drive device.
A reel gear is formed in an annular form in the center of the bottom surface of a reel which emerges from an open hole formed in the bottom surface of the magnetic tape cartridge. Due to a driving gear, which is provided at a rotating shaft of the drive device, meshing with this reel gear, the reel is driven to rotate. By driving the reel of the magnetic tape cartridge and the take-up reel of the drive device synchronously, data can be recorded onto the magnetic tape, and data recorded on the magnetic tape can be played back.
Such a magnetic tape cartridge requires little space for storage thereof, and a large amount of information can be recorded thereon. The position of the opening and the type of the door which opens and closes the opening differ for each type of leader member. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, in a case in which the magnetic tape cartridge is a cartridge having a leader pin 60 attached to an end portion of a magnetic tape T wound around a reel 72, an opening 68 for pulling-out of a leader pin 60 is formed in a side wall 64 of a case 62. The opening 68 is opened and closed by a door 66 which slides in the direction of loading the magnetic tape cartridge into a drive device (the direction of arrow P) and the direction opposite thereto.
A pair of upper and lower pin holding portions 70, which hold the leader pin 60 when the magnetic tape cartridge is not being used (e.g., is being stored or the like), are provided at the inner side of the opening 68 of the case 62. As shown in FIG. 15A, the pin holding portions 70 are concave portions which are substantially semicircular in plan view, and portions thereof are open such that the leader pin 60 can enter therein and exit therefrom (e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid Open (JP-A) No. 11-213614). Both end portions 60A of the leader pin 60 which is in an upright state are inserted into these concave portions (i.e., the pin holding portions 70).
However, with such pin holding portions 70, when the case 62 is dropped from the opening 68 side thereof, as shown in FIG. 15B, there are cases in which the case 62 flexurally deforms toward the top and bottom outer sides due to the impact of the drop. In this case, there is a possibility that the leader pin 60 may fall out from the pin holding portions 70.